


Hermione Granger and the Real Live Person

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:03:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11980725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hermione Granger comes to a surprising self-understanding, and invites former Muggle Nina Kwan into the world of Harry Potter.





	1. Chapter 1

    _The rest of the lesson passed without further mention of Slughorn’s party. Although Harry watched his two friends more closely over the next few days, Ron and Hermione did not seem any different except that they were a little politer to each other than usual. Harry supposed he would just have to wait to see what happened under the influence of butterbeer in Slughorn’s dimly it room on the night of the party. In the meantime, however, he had more pressing worries._  
  
 _Katie Bell was still in St. Mungo’s Hospital with no prospect of leaving, which meant that the promising Gryffindor team Harry had been training so carefully since September was one Chaser short. He kept putting off replacing Katie in the hope that she would return, but their opening match against Slytherin was looming, and he finally had to accept that she would not be back in time to play._  
  
 _Harry did not think he could stand another full-House tryout. With a sinking feeling that had little to do with Quidditch, he cornered Dean Thomas after Transfiguration one day. Most of the class had already left, and neither Dean or Harry noticed the note taped to Harry’s back._  
  
    Nina Kwan paused and read the last clause again. She had read the Harry Potter books many times, and there had never been a note taped to Harry’s back in the middle of book six. Come to think of it, she had read _this particular copy_ of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince several times, with no mention of any note. Puzzled, Nina read on.  
  
   _“Dear Reader,_  
 _I have reason to believe that I am a character in a book. A book in which Harry Potter is the main character. This is the best way I could think of to contact you and test my theory. I hope I haven’t messed up the storyline. Please send me a note if you are real._  
 _Sincerely,_  
 _Hermione Granger_  
  
    Nina dropped her book. What was going on? Slowly, she picked it up, found the page, and reread the note. It was right in the middle of the page, in exactly the same font as the rest of the book, as if it had always been there. The only problem was, Nina was certain it had not always been there.  
    The book had been sitting on a shelf in her bedroom since she’d last read it. As far as Nina knew, no one had touched it or even looked at it in that time. Besides, there was no sign of any tampering. The new passage was inserted neatly into the original. But if this was not some sort of bizarre prank, what could it be? Could it really be coming from inside the book? Had Hermione somehow realized her own fictionality? And if so, how was Nina supposed to contact her? Hermione’s method, (if it really was Hermione, this was still hard to believe) seemed to only work one way.  
    The more Nina pondered this, the more confused she became. Not only was she unable to think of a way to reach Hermione, she couldn’t understand how Hermione had written the note to her in the first place. When had she written it? How had she taped it to Harry’s back without Harry or Nina noticing? Nina wondered if Hermione was able to act independently when she wasn’t at the focus of the action, and what else was going on between the lines, unbeknownst to her.  
    Between the lines…that gave Nina an idea. If she took a pencil and wrote in an extra few sentences, in other words, altered the book, could she place her own note in Hermione’s path? Stranger things had already happened today.  
    Nina went to her desk and found a pencil. She bent over the book and wrote, “Hermione brushed past Harry on her way out of class, holding a piece of parchment that said simply, ‘got your message’. Harry ignored her.”. Inelegant, but it was the best she could come up with. Nina scanned the page, looking for any sign of a change.  
  
     _“Are you still interested in playing Chaser?”_  
 _“Wha—? Yeah, of course!” said Dean excitedly. Over Dean’s shoulder, Harry saw Seamus Finnigan slamming his books into his bag, looking sour. A scrap of parchment fluttered out of one. Wonderful! Get yourself in and we'll talk._  
  
    Nina was shocked. She hadn’t thought to write herself into the book, but of course that was what she should do! They couldn’t keep passing notes, someone was bound to notice eventually. She read on a few pages, looking for a suitable place to insert an anonymous Ravenclaw talking to Hermione. Quidditch practice wouldn’t do, nor would Ginny and Ron’s fight, but maybe here, walking along a seventh-floor corridor…  
    “Nina! Are you writing in that book?” Nina looked up at her mother.  
    “I - um, I was - “ she paused, realizing there was no logical explanation for what she was doing, “I was just taking notes.” She held up the book.  
    “Notes?” her mother sighed, “Well, it’s your book, I suppose.”  
Nina nodded and waited until her mother left, then finished what she’d been writing. Satisfied, she reread the passage and -   
  
Nina and Hermione were walking down a seventh-floor corridor. As they rounded a corner, they met Harry and Ron. Nina’s eyes widened - Harry! and Ron! - but they didn’t notice. Harry gave a tiny nod, but Ron refused to acknowledge Hermione whatsoever. Hermione looked confused, but excited to see Nina.  
    “Oi, out of the way!” they heard Ron shout as his and Harry’s footsteps receded. The corridor lost some detail, and Hermione turned to Nina eagerly.  
    “So are you - are you really the reader? You’re real?” she asked.  
    “Yes,”  said Nina, “I’m Nina.”  
    “Wait a minute - you’re American?” Hermione sounded surprised.  
    “Well, yes - “  
    “Is the author American?”  
    “No, it’s just, the Harry Potter books are really popular. Everyone’s read them.”  
    “Really?”  
    “I’d say so.”  
    Hermione sighed. She looked relieved, and Nina realized all of a sudden what a shock it must be to learn that you are fictional.  
    “They’re wonderful books. I can’t believe I’m actually in one!”  
    “Wow, that’s strange. They’re good books, really?”  
    “I love them. And so do tons of people. You have no idea how exciting it is to meet you.”  
    Hermione chuckled. “Usually Harry gets that, not me. Where are we going?”  
    “The library. I’ve written myself in as a Ravenclaw in your Arithmancy class, we can say we’re working on a project, Harry and Ron won’t know, they’re not in that class - “  
    Hermione noticed Nina’s Ravenclaw scarf for the first time. “A Ravenclaw? Why a Ravenclaw?”  
    “Most of the Ravenclaws don’t have names. No one will know I’m an impostor.”  
    Hermione nodded her approval as they entered the library. They ducked around a group of astonishingly generic looking Hufflepuffs, then took a seat at a table as far from Madam Pince as they could find.  
    “Now,” said Nina, “you have to tell me how you figured it out."


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione looked down at her hands. “It all started,” she said, “when I realized I didn’t know my parents’ first names. I don’t think they have any.  
    “Everyone knows Harry’s parents’ names, of course, they’re Lily and James. And Ron’s parents are Molly and Arthur. But everyone just calls my parents Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and I call them mum and dad.  
    “So I asked around a bit. Neville’s parents are Frank and Alice. Parvati’s parents don’t have names, just like mine, and I even asked Romilda Vane and she’s not sure if she has parents at all! I didn’t ask Lavender, but I’ve a feeling _she_ doesn’t have any either.  
    “It started to seem that the less close a person was to Harry, the less they knew about their own backstory. And what sort of people don’t have backstories? Minor characters in books. But no one noticed, or thought it strange at all, even when I pointed it out to them! And Harry himself doesn’t have any grandparents! Not relevant, I suppose.  
    “From there I got to thinking about all the things that have happened to us. The three of us, I mean. Me, Harry…and Ron. We’re the main characters, aren’t we?”  
    Nina nodded, a little surprised at being addressed. Hermione continued.  
    “Exactly! Everything seems to happen to us! It’s not plausible. Harry saved the Sorcerer’s Stone and faced down You-Know-Who when he was _eleven_ , for goodness sake. _And_ he just _happened_ to be the youngest Quidditch player in what - a century? Quidditch star, Triwizard Champion, Boy-Who-Lived, the list goes on and on. And what about the flip side? People like Neville, or - or Malfoy? Has Neville ever done anything right in Potions? Has Draco Malfoy ever done anything kind? No, because their characters just aren’t that complex. So it’s obvious, really. The whole world - it’s just not realistic. It had to be a book.”  
    Nina was stunned. “But - it it’s that simple, how come no other book characters figure it out? Why are you the only one to realize you’re fictional?”  
    For once, Hermione did not know how to answer. She looked at Nina, then down at her hands again.  
    “I - um… I guess I’m written that way. I’m clever. I figure things out. Like the-“  
    “Basilisk in book two. Or Lupin being a werewolf in book three!”  
    “Yes! And I’m not the main character, so I’m free to move around a bit-“  
    “Without the narrative following you! But you’re central enough-“  
    “To be a complex and thoughtful character! It all fits!”  
    “And on top of that,” added Nina, “being Muggle-born means you’re already a bit skeptical of this world, so you notice when things are a bit weird.”  
    “And what’s more,” said Hermione, looking a little smug, “I have _magic_. I can do something like, say, Confund the protagonist…”  
    “Hermione!”  
    “I’m not saying I did! I’m just saying, if anyone was going to realize they were fictional, it was me!”  
    The two girls grinned at each other triumphantly. Their triumph was short-lived, however, because a second later Madam Pince came hurrying over to kick them out of the library for being too loud. They walked along the corridor, Hermione very quiet, and Nina staring at everything they passed.  
    “What now?” Hermione finally asked.  
    Nina hadn’t thought past this moment. Talking to Hermione - Hermione! the real Hermione! - and walking around Hogwarts - she, Nina Kwan was in Hogwarts! - were as far as her plans had taken her. But now that she was here…  
    “What do you think about spoilers?” she asked.  
    “What do you mean?” said Hermione, a little alarmed.  
    “I mean - I’ll keep this vague, don’t worry. In the end of the books, the good guys win. I don’t want to do anything that would mess that up. But there are some things - some bad things - that don’t have to happen, and I think we might be able to stop them, if we want to.”  
    Hermione looked even more alarmed at this. “I - I don’t know, Nina, messing about with the future is dangerous. You never know what will happen, or what you’ll change, back in third year I was-“  
    “Given a Time-Turner, I know. And I get it. If you don’t want to risk changing anything, I understand.”  
    “It’s not that I _want_ these - these bad things to happen,” said Hermione, her voice rising in pitch, “I just - what sort of bad things?”  
    “Deaths,” said Nina. “Some of them are for actual reasons, but some of them-“ she began to choke up, thinking of Fred Weasley, “some of them are just so pointless…”  
    Hermione looked deeply rattled. She took a few deep breaths, turned left down a corridor, then stopped and turned around.  
    “Look,” she said, “why don’t you give me the night to think it over. You can stay in the Ravenclaw dormitory. I don’t know where it is, but it must exist, because of Luna and Cho…I’ll find you at breakfast tomorrow morning, alright?”  
    “Alright,” said Nina, “I’ll see you in the morning.”  
    Hermione turned and walked in what Nina assumed to be the direction of the Gryffindor dormitories, leaving Nina alone in a Hogwarts corridor. Nina, alone in a Hogwarts corridor! She could go anywhere! Do anything! She walked, faster and faster, until she was running down the long hall. Portraits gazed at her curiously as she ran, laughing, past them, but Nina didn’t care. She was in Hogwarts! She was in Hogwarts! She was in - CRASH.  
    She was on the floor - of Hogwarts - having run full tilt into somebody. That somebody was also on the floor. As Nina picked up her belongings and stuttered her apologies, she caught a hint of Ravenclaw blue and heard a dreamy voice.  
    “No it’s quite all right. I get knocked over all the time, really.”  
    Nina straightened with a gasp, dropping the wand she had been picking up.  
    “ _Luna_?” she asked, incredulously. The girl nodded. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to, you’re my favorite-“ Nina stopped herself. She had nearly said Luna was her favorite character in the books. She would have to be careful.  
    Luna was looking at her curiously, and Nina realized she hadn’t finished her sentence.  
    “Classmate,” she concluded. Luna smiled brightly.  
    “Well I don’t think I’ve been _anyone’s_ favorite classmate before,” she beamed, “but I don’t think I know your name.”  
    “I’m Nina. I’m in your year.” Nina cursed herself. Luna was a year younger than the others. “I mean, I’m in sixth year. You’re in fifth, right?”  
    Luna nodded serenely. She didn’t seem to notice Nina’s confusion. She picked up the rest of her belongings before asking where Nina was going.  
    “The dormitory,” Nina replied.  
    “You were going the wrong way, you know. The dormitories are down here.”  
    “Right, I - I knew that.” Nina followed Luna gratefully through a long series of twists and turns that she was sure she’d never remember, and into the Ravenclaw common room. Nina stifled a gasp as she entered, remembering just in time that she was supposed to have been here for years. Nina wished Harry would come in so she could see the place in a little better detail, but what she could see was amazing. Books were everywhere she looked, and not just wizard books. Nina saw at least three different Ravenclaws curled up in chairs with copies of _The Lord of the Rings_. In another corner, a girl was showing her delighted friends a ballpoint pen. It was a quiet room, but not austere. The quiet came from the fact that the room was obviously full of nerds who were enjoying their books and the warm fire.  
    Luna took a seat by the fire, and Nina sat nearby, feeling a little awkward and more than a little out of place. Suddenly she remembered the wand in her pocket, the wand she had dropped when she realized who Luna was. She had a wand - could she use it? When she’d written herself in, had she remained a Muggle?  
    Nina pulled the wand out of her pocket and examined it. It was a dark wood, with streaks running down it of lighter coloring, long, and thin, Ollivander would probably say “swishy”. Nina waved the wand somewhat randomly and said the first spell that came to mind. Nothing happened.  
    “Lumos!” she tried again, and the time she thought she saw a faint glimmer of light. It was probably just wishful thinking.  
    “Lumos! _Lumos!_ ”  
    Luna looked up at her absently. “You have the motion wrong. It’s more of a twirl, here.”  
    She held Nina’s wrist as Nina tried again, and this time there was a burst of light from the end of the wand. Nina couldn’t believe her eyes. She was magic. She was magic!  
    “Oh thank you, thank you!” she said. “I had no idea I could do magic!”  
    Luna looked at her more curiously than ever before. “But you go to Hogwarts,“ she said, “and you’re in your sixth year. Surely you knew you could do magic, you’ve done it before?”  
    “Yes - no -“ Nina faltered. She was trapped. “Look, if I explain this, will you promise not to tell anyone, or kick me out, or anything?”  
    Luna nodded, and Nina began to explain.


End file.
